


People Are Not Magnets

by charlie947



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Emotional Baggage, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Hand Jobs, Hickeys, Hurt/Comfort, Implied D/s, Kissing, Making Out, Scratching, Sex, Slap Slap Kiss, Snuggling, Vaginal Fingering, Violence, but i am tagging just in case, but it will be once they work out their shit, i have no idea how much graphic violence there is, look not all of it is super healthy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-27 00:06:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8379739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlie947/pseuds/charlie947
Summary: A Titan's Curse AU in which  Percy stays in camp to keep an eye on Thalia, Annabeth has different priorities and chemistry and tension are hard to define and even harder to navigate.OR: everyone is older and different decisions lead to very different results.(The fic is Thalia/Percy for the record. I realized my tags don't make that quite clear.)





	1. Friction

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, a few things before I begin. 
> 
> I've aged the characters so they're no longer minors: Percy is now 18 and Thalia is 19, going on 20. Everyone else is aged accordingly, and the prophecy cut off age is now 20, instead of 16. Also now demigods can use technology more or less without problems. And I'm not sure how well I've managed to write Annabeth, but I hope it's not terrible. 
> 
> Besides that, I try to stick to canon as much as possible - except obviously the way the fic diverges from it. I might have to copy/paste excerpts of the book here and there since this fic is generally based on the TTC canon, but I'll try to summarize and only copy/paste the relevant quotes.
> 
> I absolutely do not promise frequent updates. I started this fic in 2014, but I'm hoping that reposting it here, will inspire me to actually write it. I'll probably tag new things as I go along. 
> 
> And yeah, I guess that's it for now.

 

**_ Percy _ **

Thalia was the most frustrating person Percy had ever met. She was very private, and stubborn and competitive and no matter how much she’d like to pretend that it wasn’t true; everyone in camp knew she had a thing with Luke, way back when. 

So of course, the only logical thing for Percy to do after she was resurrected or whatever, was to stick around camp to keep an eye on her.

“Hello, Earth to Seaweed brain! You’re not even trying!” Thalia called him. They were practicing sword-fighting skills and Percy had gotten distracted for a moment.

“Yes, I _am!_ And would you stop calling me ‘Seaweed brain’? I hate it!”

“Oh, _oh_ , well that’s just _perfect_ isn’t it? Come on, Jackson, you know better than that! If tell me you hate it, I’ll just do it more. And by the way, if _that_ is you trying, we might as well surrender to Kronos right now.”

That annoyed Percy so much, he managed to channel it into beating the sword out of Thalia’s hand. He took advantage of the split second of her confusion and placed his sword on her left shoulder, right at the side of her throat. 

“Fair enough,” she grinned and slowly pushed off the sword, until Percy dropped it to the ground beside her.

“Say it!” he grinned

“Hell, no! I never agreed to _that_!”

“ _Say_ it!”

“ _Fine_ ,” she puffed. “I’m your _bitch!_ ” Thalia rolled her eyes.

“Now say it like you mean it!”

“I’m never going to _mean it_ , Seaweed brain!” Thalia snorted.

“Fine, I’ll take what I can get,” Percy sighed. “Dinner?”

“Might as well - I’m starving! And just so you know I’ll beat you next time. I’m just still a little rusty.”

“ _Sure_ ,” he smirked.

“Oh, shut the fuck up!” Thalia slapped him lightly at the back of his head. 

Percy laughed - that was Thalia’s way of showing she’s bonded with you. But then Thalia wasn’t like most girls. She wasn’t like most demigods either. While pretty much everyone walked around camp in their camp t-shirts - except for most of Aphrodite’s children, as they usually insisted on wearing their own clothes, because _“bright orange didn’t look good on anyone”_ \- Thalia was wearing a gory, black t-shirt portraying a Barbie with an arrow through her head and a leather jacket. She also recently put a blue highlight in her dark hair. If nothing else, it suited her electric blue eyes.

***

Eating at Poseidon’s table was always lonely and most nights, Percy hated it quite a bit. The table was just as big as everyone else’s (as per tradition), but because eating with other demigods, Percy was always alone on it. It was even worse since Annabeth (his almost-girlfriend) had left for school and Tyson (his cyclops-half-brother) had left to work for his father. His only friend in camp now, was Grover.

Percy looked across to the black-haired girl, who was also had to sit alone as the daughter of Zeus. She gave him a reassuring smile for a second and then immediately looked away, pretending she hadn’t caught his gaze at all. She probably didn’t want anyone to know that she could be nice at all. She probably just wanted to be seen as cool and edgy and fearless and absolutely terrifying.

Thalia finished eating just a little before Percy - she hadn’t been eating a lot since she was back - and she was throwing what was left of her food in the bonfire with the rest of the food sacrificed to the gods. She seemed distracted, looking in the distance without focusing on anything and Percy decided it was the best time to catch her off guard. He snuck up on her behind her back and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

“What the…?” Thalia was so surprised she stumbled to the bonfire, burnt her hand, which jerked and she threw the plate up. It turned upside down in midair and grapes and coke spilled all over her. 

Percy had to try hard not to laugh as he watched her face go from shock, to pain, to anxiousness in the split second before her food and coke attacked her from above and finally to bitter acceptance as she realised she couldn’t do anything about it.

She turned to Percy, with a glazed look. She brushed off the cola from her eyes with her fingers smearing her eye-liner and asked.“ _Why_? Why would you do this to me?”

Then Percy couldn’t help it anymore and he burst out laughing. “Sorry! I thought it’d be funny to startle you, but I had no idea how _much_.”

Thalia punched him in the shoulder - hard. That caused him to stop laughing. “You are a _jackass!”_

“Sorry, sorry!” Percy said, brushing tears off the corners of his eyes. “Did you burn your hand? Let me see.”

“It’s just a scratch, you _wimp_ , I’ll live!” 

Thalia pulled her hand and looked at the distance again. Percy finally realised what she was looking at - Hermes’ table. 

“It’s _bullshit!_ ” she said, as if she knew what he was thinking too. “They have more people than they can handle, and yet you and I have to sit alone.”

“Yeah,” Percy nodded.

“I’m going to wash my face and take a walk,” Thalia said. “See you later, Seaweed brain.”

“See ya’.” 

He decided to go send Anabeth another email - she hadn’t responded to his last few, and that worried him. Maybe he could call his mom too. They’d never spend that much time apart. After, he could head to his horse-riding training. If he saw Thalia on the way, maybe he could ask her to come along - she’d never said anything about liking or hating horses. When he thought about it, he really didn’t know her all that well.

Flying with Blackjack always improved Percy’s mood. It was the only kind of flying Percy could do, and he was fine with that. Soaring through the air on an elegant pegasus was just what Percy needed. 

Eventually, Percy landed back on the surface. Both he and Blackjack were thirsty and neither had noticed how fast the next hour and a half had passed. They landed near the lake, but as they got closer, Percy saw someone there. At first he simply walked on - kids hung around the lake all the time (even though Percy didn’t expect anyone at this), but as he got even nearer he realised that the the person he saw was Thalia. And not just that - she was curled up in a ball, knees to her chest and hands covering her face. She was _crying_!

Percy stopped. He didn’t want to go further - not only because it would be super awkward and he was terrible with crying girls; not even because Thalia would most probably kick his ass, if he disturbed her, but mostly because this seemed like a veryprivate moment that no one was supposed to see. It would be best, if Percy left and pretended he hadn’t seen anything.

“Let’s go,” he told Blackjack, and patted him comfortingly on the snout. “There should be some water back at the stables.”

***

This night, like every other, Percy joined everybody at the singalong around the bonfire. Except, this time he sat next to Thalia.

“Why aren’t you singing?” Je nudged her lightly with his left shoulder.

“Are you kidding? I’m a terrible singer! If you ever heard me sing, you’d wish you were deaf.”

“Well, so am I, but it’s never stopped me before,’ Percy grinned and started singing as loudly as he could.”

Thalia looked at him, blinking twice. Then she laughed, “You are an idiot!” she shook her head.

“Annabeth says the same - that’s never stopped me, either.”

“Speaking of Annabeth, how is she? I barely saw her, after I… well, you _know_.”

“I don’t know how she is,” Percy shrugged, trying to act nonchalantly. “She hasn’t answered my emails and every time I try to text or Iris-message her, she is either not there, or barely says three words to me.”

“That’s strange! I thought that as your girlfriend, she’d want to talk to you more.”

“Annabeth is _not_ my girlfriend!”

“She isn’t?” Thalia seemed genuinely surprised.

“Well, there was this _moment_ … honesty, between you waking up and Kronos’ constant plans to destroy us and…” Percy was going to say something about Luke, but he stopped himself just in time. “Well, let’s just say that defining our relationship wasn’t high on the list of priorities. If she’d talk to me for twenty minutes we _could_ , but I don’t know - apparently, I don’t mean that much to her.”

“Huh,” Thalia said nothing more, and looked at the ground, kicking a few pebbles. “Are you ok?” She looked up at Percy again.

“I’ll live,” he shrugged and looked away.

***

Just before they had to go to sleep, Percy grabbed a bottle of water from what was left from dinner and followed Thalia.]

“Thalia!” He grabbed the hand that she had burnt a few hours ago on purpose, catching her just before she entered her cabin

She groaned and pulled her hand back.

“Well, I just wanted to say, ‘Goodnight!’ but that’s,…” and before she can answer or react, he grabbed her hand again. There was a red scar on it with the diameter of a golfball. “Yeah, that’s _not_ a scratch!”

“Oh, please, it’s just a scar - we’ve both had worse!”She tried to pull her hand back again, but Percy was holding tightly onto her wrist.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean we should just endure pain for no reason!”

“I’m _fine_ , Seaweed brain!”

“You are left-handed, aren’t you? So that’s the hand you use for - pretty much everything? Holding weapons, eating, brushing your teeth… so unless your definition of ‘fine’ includes terrible pain whenever you try to do anything…”

“Whatever,” Thalia rolled her eyed.

“You don’t always have to everything on your own and be perfect at it, you know!”

‘Oh, _please_ , you are _full of it_!’ ’ She snorted and pulled her hand back.

’What?’

“Do you think I’m blind or stupid or something? That I didn’t figure out why you stayed in camp, when I _know_ you go back to school every year? That I haven’t noticed how you’ve been looking at me ever since… It’s like you think I’m two minutes from having break down or just straight up running off to join… _Kronos_ ,” Percy noticed how careful she was not to mention Luke either. “Tell me that if you were in my place, you wouldn’t want to be on top of everything - or at least, look like you are!”

Percy considered this for a second. “Yeah, I would,” he nodded, then took a deep breath. “Look, I get it, ok? You and I are the same! But if I’ve learned something at all, it’s that I usually need someone to tell me whenever I’m being a stubborn idiot. For me, that’s usually Annabeth, but since she’s not here: _you are being a stubborn idiot_! Now shut the fuck up, and let me help you!”

For a second Percy wasn’t sure if Thalia would hit him or let him help, but she chuckled and gave him her hand. “I guess I _am_ being a little too stubborn.”

He clicked open the water bottle with his teeth and spilled some of it on her hand. She winced, but didn’t move. Percy imagined Thalia’s hand recovering and a few seconds later, the water circled around the red spot and it was turned into a tiny, barely noticeable scar.

“Cool trick. Thanks, Jackson,” she said looking at her hand.

“No big deal,” Percy shrugged. Healing others was harder than healing himself. Little drops of sweat had broken out on his forehead, just below his hairline, but he didn’t plan on wiping them in front of Thalia.

She looked him in the eyes. “Percy?”

“Yeah?”

“You annoy me _a lot_! You almost _never_ think before you act; you made me spill my very sticky drink all over myself and I had to redo my entire make-up. I _hate it_ when you beat me at things ,and not just because you make me say that I’m your bitch _,_ which by the way, I’m _so_ not! I _hate it_ that you’ve pretty much had as much experience as I have, even though I’m older. And though I understand where you are coming from, I _hate_ that you don’t trust me! But I guess, you are not _totally_ awful.”

“Thanks, thats’s nice,” he chuckled. “For what is worth, I’m not sure I like you most of the time either. You frustrate me, you make me angry, you constantly provoke me. But I guess you can be nice too.”

“You know, I wouldn’t _constantly provoke you_ , if you would just listen to me every once in a while and took a break from being a huge jackass once in a while!”

“Hey, it wasn’t _my fault_ that you burnt your hand. Maybe you wouldn’t have gotten hurt, if you had a little more balance than a drunk elephant!”

“That’s not an _actual_ expression, you _moron_!”

‘Yes, it is! But I guess, I can see how you’d think that! English was _so_ much different in the _80s_ , where you seem to be stuck! You do know that grunge and punk went out of style about that time, right?”

“ _Ass!”_ said Thalia indignantly.

_“Bitch!”_

They were now the only two people left outside their cabins and they were standing just a couple of feet from each other, looking into one-another’s eyes with angry, challenging expressions _._

Then, Percy took a step forward. He wrapped his arms around Thalia’s waist, stopping for a second - just enough time for a demigod to decide whether to push him away. Instead, Thalia grasped the collar of his jacket and pulled him down. Their mouths pressed together in a passionate kiss. It was angry, intense, _hot_ … and so much more different, then the way Percy usually pictured his first proper kiss.

Kissing Thalia was zealous and heated. He pulled her closer, their entire bodies were now pressed together hard, almost painfully. He could feel her breasts squished between them, but she didn’t seem to care, so clutched to her even tighter. Thalia ran her hands through his hair and even pulled slightly, but Percy liked it. He placed his hands on her small back as she put hers on his neck. After a couple of minutes, they separated, their lips hurting.

At first none of them said or did anything. 

Then Thalia forced a smile.“Well, good night, then.”

Percy nodded, still too stunned to speak. Before his thoughts managed to form into words in his head, she was walking back into Zeus’s cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow my book sideblog and check me out on [LJ](http://charlie2cute.livejournal.com/).
> 
> If you are in the PJO fandom on Tumblr, please rec me some good blogs (any ship is okay, except Percabeth).
> 
> My pronouns are they/them so please only use those when referring to me.


	2. Two is Party...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm not dead!

Thalia couldn’t sleep that night. She kept replaying what had happened in her head. She couldn’t remember how they got from fighting to… whatever that was. She had never particularly believed in that love-hate relationship thing was really possible. To her it it was just Hollywood’s incredible insight into relationship dynamics and the straight female’s psyche. _You hate that guy - well, you must want to fuck him, then!_

But what she had with Percy… Yes, he was annoying, but then he also had a cute smile and eyes like the sea, not to mention he was actually kind of nice. When they kissed, the sensation of his hair between her fingers, his hands on her back, holding her in tight embrace… Damn it, they were so close she could feel every part of him - _every_ one!

_No_ , Thalia shook her head. Percy likes Annabeth and Annabeth was Thalia’s friend! Friends don’t take each other’s boyfriends, or almost-boyfriends or crushes, or whatever. Hoes before bros, after all. It was the first rule of the girl code. 

But then… ever since Annabeth left for school, she and Thalia had barely spoken. Once in a while, the brunette would get a two-worded text or a generic email, but not much more. And apparently, Percy wasn’t speaking with Annabeth, either. So what was up with that? Was Annabeth really Thalia’s friend as much as she wanted her to be? Thalia needed to remind herself she’d been dead to the world for quite some time and things change. Her friend had, apparently. 

And then, wasn’t Percy her _friend_? She looked at the scar on her hand - she couldn’t see it in the darkness, but she knew it was there, as she could remember the pain - and smiled. _’_ ** _Friends_** _don’t really do what you two did last night!’_ Thalia grudgingly reminded herself and tossed angrily on the side. She wished the stupid thundering in Zeus’ cabin would stop - she was _already_ having trouble falling asleep!

After a lot more tossing and turning, Thalia finally fell into unsay sleep. No demigod dreams, but she still quite a few that were equally disturbing. In one of them, Annabeth and Thalia duelled and Annabeth ended up, cut off Thalia’s head, which was still alive. She’d put it on her night stand, telling everyone it was a trophy.

***

The next morning Thalia heard the breakfast call, but she just put her blanket over her head, turning back to sleep, despite her stomach’s rumbling. By lunch however, she had to force herself to get up, mostly because she was too hungry to resist the idea of food, but also because she probably needed to show up before Chiron would start to worry.

Thalia spent as much time as possible getting ready, including fixing her eye-liner about three times - she wanted to be sure that Percy was at his table already, o she could avoid him. She came just in time for the last few sacrifices to the gods, so she wasn’t quite so late as to be awkward. Yet, she still felt like people were starring at her.

‘ _It’s nothing new_ ,’ she told herself and took a deep breath. ‘ _People have been starring at you for weeks!’_

Of course, Percy was between the starers. Though to his credit, at least he tried to do it only when he thought Thalia couldn’t see him. Many of Aphrodite’s children were starring too. Briefly, Thalia wondered, if they could sense love or sex hormones or whatever. Would they be able to know when someone was making out with someone else’s crush?

‘ _Oh, this is stupid!’_ Thalia told herself… and then she remembered that there must be unmarked Eros’s children around, as well. She exhaled - this line of thinkingwould drive her crazy. She needed a distraction,something that would occupy all of her attention. Then, it occurred to her - volleyball! 

That was perfect, there were volleyball games in camp all throughout the lunch and late afternoon to early night hours. Winning always improved Thalia’s mood, especially if included beating some of the people who had been starring at her judgementally since day one. 

She hadn’t played volleyball in camp yet. Actually, she hadn’t played since she was little. Apparently, being a tree for years leads you to loose muscle weigh. At first she was trying to remember everything her muscles seemed to have forgotten - how to fight with her spear, how to use Aegis, unarmed combat, archery, sword-fighting, and all those other life-saving abilities a demigod (especially one of her caliber) usually needs.

After lunch Thalia went back to her cabin to change. She put on her black sports shorts, an old t-shirt with a dead cupid on it, and pulled her hair in a ponytail. When she arrived the current game was already ending. 

“Thalia,” a positively glowing girl smiled at her and waved. Her hair, long, lush, black hair, reaching all the way to her bum, was barely contained by an alice band.She had strikingly deep blue eyes and was dressed in pink shorts and a top that was unnecessarily revealing. Admittedly, she was beautiful. Gorgeous even. Under different circumstances, Thalia might be wondering if she like girls, but as it was, Zeus’ daughter almost needed to cover her eyes, not to be blinded by the girl’s smile.

“Hi, I am Silena Beauregard, the counsellor for Aphrodite’s cabin.” _But of course she was!_ “I’m sorry, I usually just end with ‘Silena Beauregard’,” the girl continued awkwardly, but still smiling. “But I don’t think that we’ve officially met. You’re Thalia…?’

“I usually just go with Thalia,” she said firmly. Thalia hated being asked about her last name and wanted to put as much distance between herself and it.

“Oh-key. Are you just here to watch, or are you going to be joining the game?”

“Oh, definitely joining!”

“Cool,”Silena beamed at her. “Well, next game starts in a few minutes, I’m the captain of one of the teams and my boyfriend Charlie - Charlie Beckendorf, the counsellor for Hephaestus’s Cabin - over there,” she waved to a handsome dark-skinned boy, “is the captain of the other one. And I _know_ what you are thinking - _playing against each other_? That’s _crazy!_ A couple should stick together, win or loose, right? But I think some healthy competition is good for new relationships. Keeps the spark going, right?”

“I was really not - thinking any of that!” Thalia said irritably. “To be honest, there is _nothing_ I’ve _ever_ cared less about. Except maybe this moment!” she mused.*

“So anyone special in _your_ life?” Silena asked still as cheerfully, ignoring Thalia’s back talk. Thalia shot her an annoyed look, and thankfully she got the hint.

"Wait, Silena - I’m playing too!” Percy showed up, winded. “Sorry that I’m late!”

“Oh, no problem, Percy!” she beamed at him. “Well, I think we now have everyone,” she shouted. There were people nodding all around the court as the game was wrapping up.

“What are you doing, here?” Thalia hissed at Percy, our of Silena’s ear shot. “Did you _follow_ me?”

“Uh, Thalia, I’m sorry to tell you this, but the world doesn’t revolve around you. I _always_ play volleyball on Tuesdays - I’ve never seen _you_ here, though.”

“I wanted to blow off some steam - without _you_ around!”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed you’ve been avoiding me the whole day.”

“Oh, _you_ get to talk about self-importance! For your information - I did not, _not_ go to breakfast because of you! I didn’t go, because I wanted to sleep in.”

“You eat like bird, but I haven’t seen you miss a meal, _yet_. Then, the day after you kissed me, you suddenly wanted to sleep in? _Sure, Jan_!”

“Umm, my name is Thalia, you idiot.”

“It’s a… meme,” Percy sighed.

“What’s a meme?” Thalia frowned. More importantly - you kissed me!” But before she could go on, the two were being separated into teams.

“I pick Percy!” Charlie called.

“I pick Thalia!” Silena said. 

“ _Jackass!”_ Thalia muttered under her breath, while heading towards the beaming girl. “As if I even wanted to…”

“Who’s a jackass?” Silena asked cheerily, standing next to Thalia while Charlie was picking another teammate. Gods, her cheerfulness was annoying!

“No one,” Thalia answered quickly - but maybe a bit too quickly.

“And when you say _no one_ , you actually mean _Percy_ , right?”

“What? No, I don’t! I mean yes, but… so _what_?”

“I know he annoys you, it’s perfectly normal! You are so similar, both born-leaders… you shouldn’t let it get to you. He is actually a nice guy. And I’m sure that you are nice too… maybe, _possibly,”_ She glanced at Thalia a bit fearful.

“Is that what you think of him? He’s _nice guy_?”

“Well, no, not like a ‘nice guy’, but he’s… you know, sweet. Decent. I mean we’re not that close, but if you really want my opinion… I can tell he is a great guy! He is good looking, smart - obtuse, but still generally smart - heroic… I mean, he is not my type, of course - too _raw_ \- but Annabeth’s a lucky girl. I hope she realizes it.”

“Yeah, sure, _Annabeth_ …” 

“Oh!” Silena looked at Thalia, giggled, then looked ahead again.

“ _What_?”

“Nothing,” Silena said defensively, waving her arms in front of her. I have nothing to say - at all! Please, don’t kill me?”

Thalia smirked and patted Silena on the shoulder, making her wince a bit, “You are fine! For now,” she winked, amused at the way Silena jumped a little. 

The teams quickly spread around the court and took their places. Thalia was at the front right corner, just one spot away from the person who served - Silena’s sister - something with A - Ana, Alex, Alice… oh, _Ally_. Thalia fixed her look Percy and narrowed her eyes at him. He just shook his head.

The game started. Ally served a floater and there was some passing the ball around, until Thalia managed to spike it and the attempt at a block was finally unsuccessful. Her team rotated and it was her turn to serve. She thought she had an ace, but at the last second Percy blocked. The spirit seemed to be that of a friendly competition for everyone, except for Percy and Thalia - they were leading a _war_.

It was near the end of the game, when Thalia finally snapped. She was getting angrier and more frustrated as their passive-aggressive fight continued. Her team was loosing by two points, at 26, while Percy’s team was at 28 - they were playing to 30. It was the longest passing around of the ball they had seen - it started with Selina as a server, then Charlie blocked, then another Aphrodite boy on Thalia’s team, then Percy, Ally, a boy Thalia learned was named Will, Thalia again, someone whose name was Miles or Michael, a blond Aphrodite girl, Percy, Thalia, Percy, Selina, Charlie, Thalia, Percy - this time she was sure, he was purposefully aiming for her. Her team had formed a block, butPercy had spiked the ball and it hit Thalia in the face. The ball bounced up the air as the girl fell down, and just before Percy’s team had officially won their point, Thalia yelled and shot a small electricity current in the air, burning the ball to a crisp. What fell on the ground was a blackened, broken, flat piece of fabric.

Everyone looked at her. Some expressions were just shocked, others a bit frightened (although it was unclear whether it was of her or _for_ her), and then others just had pity in their eyes. Then someone started laughing nervously. 

_Finally, the girl, who everyone knew was unstable, snapped!_ _So sad!_

“Dear gods, Thalia, that was _mad_ ,” Silena was the first one to speak. She was smiling nervously.“And kind of awesome! Remind me never to aim anything at you,” she offered Thalia her hand.

Thalia looked at Percy -he was trying not break into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. She didn’t say anything, just pushed away Selina’s hand, got up as quickly as possible on her own, beat the dust out of her clothes, gave one last angry look at Percy and stormed off.

“Oh, come on now, if you act all hurt, it’s not _funny_!” he called after her. “ _Thalia_! Thalia, wait!”

She was well into the forest, before he managed to grab a hold of her and pull her back.

“Thalia, come on, _stop!”_ Percy was out of breath, but it was mostly because he was laughing all the way. She turned around and punched him in the nose - it was painful, but not hard enough to break it or even draw blood.

“ _Why_?” His laughter was reduced to snickering now. “Look, I didn’t mean to hit you, it was an accident, I swear. You don’t have to be so _dramatic_ about it.”

“ _You_ …” she looked infuriated. “You did it on purpose, I know you did! And I didn’t _kiss_ you!”

“Are you _serious_? Is _that_ why you were so mad? I was just _messing_ with you!” Percy laughed.

Thalia flipped him off and turned to walk away again, but he pulled back just in time. “And I _certainly_ didn't hit you on purpose!”

“Yeah, well you were trying a little _too_ hard to win!”

“Oh, like someone who only spikes and uses electricity to fry the ball before the game is technically over? Wait no, _I_ wasn’t doing that, because _I’_ m not a _crazy person.”_

“I’m _not_ crazy! It wasn’t just a game for the two of us, it was, we were…” she didn’t finish. If he really had no idea what she was talking about, it may be too outrageous to say it out loud. Percy would never let it go.

“ _I_ was playing volleyball, I have no idea, what _you_ were doing!” He grinned at her. 

“Oh, I don’t know, either!” Thalia sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Sorry for punching you. I know you didn’t _actually_ hit me on purpose. It’s fine, really, even though I suspect that my face is totally messed-up.”

“No it’ not,” Percy shook his head. He moved a lock of hair out of her face and placing it behind her ear. Then leaned in and kissed her gently. At first, his musky and salty (like the sea) smell overwhelmed her and she let him. Then, a couple of seconds later she got to her senses and pushed him away.

“Wait, no, _stop!”_ He pulled back. “I know why. _Why_ I was being crazy, I mean -it’s because of Annabeth. It really doesn’t feel right to be doing this behind her back.”

“Annabeth is _not_ my girlfriend,” Percy sighed. “She could’ve been, but… if she won’t even answer her goddamn phone, I don’t feel like I owe her anything!”

Thalia stopped for second. “Maybe not, but _I_ do. There’s a girl-code and I’m breaking it.”

“Look, you sacrificed your life for her! And at first she was herself and she was here for both of us,but… has she even asked how you were since she left camp?”

“Well,… she’s been busy!”

“Yeah… she’s busy for me too. Look, I don’t know, but… if she doesn’t even care enough to ask what’s going on, why should _we_ feel guilty about it?”

“Don’t _you_ feel guilty?”

“Well… I don’t know - maybe!”

“So then it doesn’t feel right - it shouldn’t happen again!”

“Yeah, but ever since yesterday, it’s all I can think about!”

“Oh, forget it, there’s no point!” Thalia cried in exasperation and turned away from him. “We’ll just keep arguing!”

‘Wait, are you _giving up_?’ Percy laughed. “You can’t just _give up_ on talking. That’s not going to _solve_ anything! And did you just stomp your leg? _Really_? I haven’t seen anyone above the age of six do that!”

“Oh, shut up, Seaweed Brain! No, you know what - nevermind. Yeah, I’m giving up on you, or us, or whatever. I just won’t let you bother me.”

He smirked, his eyes sparkling. “You know you’re kind of hot, when you act all crazy.”

“See that’s what I mean! You don’t even take me seriously and I just… I can’t do this anymore.”

Thalia tried to push him aside, but Percy caught her left wrist and pinned it to the tree just behind her. She tried to fight him off with her other hand, but he was quicker and pinned that one to the three too. He wasn’t hurting her and had left her several outs if she wanted them. Thalia decided to let him make his point.

“I can’t take you seriously when what you’re saying makes no sense. But don’t try and act like I don’t respect you, because that’s just not true.”

Thalia’s heart was beating fast, her breasts heaving with every breath she took. Percy was so close now, she could feel his sweet, cool breath on her skin and the heat, radiating from his body. She realized that in this position she was fully at his mercy and despite her clothes, she felt exposed. The notion did something delicious to her - he was taller, stronger, and it was all so… _exciting_!

Thalia looked Percy in the eyes, voicelessly challenging him to take advantage of the situation - she could tell he wanted to, she could see his eyes carefully follow every movement of her chest. She wanted him to touch her, to make her stop caring about Annabeth or guilt or everything else that was happening. 

Percy leaned for a kiss, and Thalia responded eagerly. Damn, this was even better than before! She tried to move closer, to press against him, which was almost impossible due to the position of her hands. She struggled for a few seconds, buthe just tightened his grip around her wrists and _fucking hell_ , that was amazing! 

When she finally relaxed, fully enjoying the kiss, he grabbed her wrists with only his left hand, still keeping them pinned against the tree and placed his right one on the naked skin just below her waist. He moved it up - slowly, it seemed to her, as every inch was making her ache - up her stomach, his fingers gingerly following the lines of her ribs, until he eventually reached her breasts and cupped one of them above her spots bra. It was just a thin layer of cloth and they could both feel everything.

Percy hesitated and pulled his hand away. ‘I’m sorry. I’m going to let go now. _Don’t hit me_!’ 

Thalia nodded. Once she was free, she grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down for another kiss. “Don’t act like I couldn’t have stopped you, if I wanted.” she said, her forehead pressed against his.

Percy smiled and pushed his hand under her bra, pinching her hardened nipple lightly. Thalia moaned quietly. It was not entirely pleasurable, but not entirely painful either and she liked it. Thalia bit his lower lip lightly and chuckled.

Percy pinned her against the tree with his pelvis. Her hands were on the back his neck, as he moved to kissing _her_ neck - slow, tiny, painfully unsatisfying kisses followed all the way from her jaw-line to the bottom of her ear, then down to her shoulder and then up again. They were so tightly pressed against each other, she couldn’t touch his stomach, but it was all she could think about.

“Take off your t-shirt!” Thalia ordered.

“Ok, ok,” Percy took a couple of steps back and did as told. Of course, he was perfectly toned. Looking at his shapely abs; broad shoulders; strong biceps and the brilliant form of his collar-bone it was hard to believe he was only eighteen. Only his virtually hairless chest, that gave his age away. Thalia smiled to herself and bit her lip.

She traced her fingers over his shoulders, chest and then placed both of her hands against his abs. Holly hell, they were so hard, you could grade cheese on them! Thalia then grabbed his shoulders and pulled herself towards him. She kissed him briefly and then moved towards his neck. She started planting, slow, gentle kisses along his jawline, and then pushed herself on her tiptoes to reach his ear, nibbling on the fleshy part.

Percy chuckled. “That tickles, you know.”

She looked at him pointedly. “I’m not done yet! Can you hold me up against the tree?”

“Um, yeah, I’m pretty sure I could,” Percy put her up, against the trunk of the tree, pressing even closer to her, his hands on her tush. He let her kiss his shoulders and then over and below his collar bone. The fold of it was just perfect, Thalia thought

She traced her fingers over his chest and lingered along his nipples. Percy shivered slightly and kissed her again. Thalia held on to his shoulders, even sunk her nailsinto his skin. Percy moaned gently against her ear, but just kept kissing her. Without breaking the kiss, he slowly moved his hands from her bum to her hips and eventually waist, letting her slip until she was standing on the ground.

His lips were just behind her ear, as Thalia’s hands moved from his hips to buttons of his jeans and she undid the first one. Her fingers found the waistband of his underwear and ran her fingers along it’s length. Meanwhile, Percy was trying to stretch the neckline of her t-shirt as much as possible, to kiss the skin along her collar bone.

Then, just as Thalia prepared to undo one more button, they heard a noise. At first it just moved around in the forest - a thumping, flat sound like threes being hit, possibly moved. She dropped her hands to her side and Percy stopped kissing her and leaned against the tree on the palms of his hands, over her. That way, they could easily continue, if it turned out to be nothing. Both of them listened closely for, if the sound would repeat.In a few seconds - it did. This time it was louder, nearer and it was followed by the screams and shrieks of forrest nymphs.

“ _Damn it!”_ Percy cursed, leaning against Thalia’s cheek for a part of the second, before he pulled away. “Seriously?! _Now_!” He sounded disappointed, but put his t-shirt back on and tensed, ready for battle.

“Yeah,’ Thalia replied sarcastically, even though she was just as frustrated as him - it felt like someone had snatched her ice-cream. “Stupid real world! How _dare_ it interfere with us making out! So rude of monsters not to _time_ their attacks correctly!”

Percy didn’t answer, just threw a bitter glance in her direction. He took his pen out of his pocket, removing the cap and letting it transform into Riptide, the sword. Thalia followed his example by doing the same with her spear and her shield, Aegis. He took the lead, as they followed the direction of the noise.

“Please, please help us! It’s destroying our home!” a frantic forest spirit, ran out of seemingly out of nowhere and caught Thalia’s forearm.

“I will,” she nodded, “but you need to let go of me!” She tried to pull away from the thin green fingers with surprisingly strong grasp. The spirit let go and Thalia urged Percy to move faster. Eventually they saw what was causing the disturbance - it was a cyclops! A ten foot tall cyclops, destroying the woods.

“Percy,” Thalia, said calmly, stopping away from the monster, which was currently being restrained by four nymphs. “Please, tell me that’s your brother and we can just talk to him!”

“Well, he’s technically my half-brother I guess, but it’s _not_ Tyson.”

“Well, _fuck!_ I guess it’s just our luck then, isn’t it?. Hey, I knew there were monsters in the woods, but I didn’t expect a _cyclopes_!”

“I don’t think they’r _e_ supposed to be here!” Percy scowled. “The barrier was fixed when we got the Golden Fleece, how did that cyclo get in? Ugh, I wish Annabeth was here! She’d know all this!”

Thalia’s stomach clenched unpleasantly. “Do you have a plan?” She became super serious, as the monster shook off the nymphs.

“Attack?” He turned to her.

“I guess, it doesn’t get more complicated than that,” she sighed. “On three?”

Percy nodded. “One. Two. Three!”

Both of them charged against the monster. Unfortunately he saw them. More unfortunately, they hadn’t noticed the monster had pulled a five feet tree from the ground along with the roots and it lashed with it in their direction.

The two demigods ducked quickly - Percy to the left, Thalia on the right. When she looked at him, she saw he’d lost his sword. He must’ve thrown it when the three passed between them. Of course, it would just come back.

“Well, so much for _that_ plan!” The dark-haired girl yelled. Hopefully the cyclo was dumb enough not to understand them and far away enough not to hear.

“Thank you, Captain obvious!” Percy retired with irony. “As always - _super_ helpful!”

“Fine then. I have a better plan!”

“Please - share with the class!”

‘You attack from the front and distract him, I sneak up towards his back, summon lighting and finish it off!”

“Why do I have to _distract_? You have that shield! That seems like a good distraction.”

“Because I can finish it off with one blast. Can you control the water from here?”

“Not really, the lake’s too far away.”

“Then you’re the bait! _Go_!” For a minute she thought Percy would start arguing again. But he just sighed, took a deep breath and jumped from his hiding place.

“Hey, ugly face!” He called the cyclops. “Over here!”

“ _Ugly face_?!” Thalia whispered in disbelief under her breath, shaking her head. 

She got up, trying to find the best way to sneak up behind the cyclops. The thing roared something about eating Percy. She turned to look at him - damn, he was fast! He knew just when to duck, or jump and he was slowly, but surely progressing towards the thing. Thalia looked ahead again - she couldn’t be distracted - it was life or death! She moved quickly and quietly along the threes, trying to avoid crunchy things, but just as she had almost reached her goal, another forest nymph very close to her shrieked in the sight of a devastated tree.

“What the…” Thalia was exasperated. The nature spirit hadn’t even noticed the demigoddess, but it didn’t matter - the cyclops turned around and sensed her.

“One more tasty demigod! _Perfect_! Eat you all!” 

Thalia had no time to summon a lighting. She flashed her shield in the cyclops face, which incapacitated him in horrified surprise for a second, fortunately just enough for Percy to attack. _Unfortunately_ , the monster turned at the last second and Percy barely managed to stab it just above the hip.

The cyclops roared again and lashed against him so hard, Percy’s sword fell out of the his hand and he flew in the air for a terrifying second, hitting the closest tree. He didn’t seem to be unconscious, but he was certainly hit. His arm, just below his t-shirt’s sleeve was bleeding. 

Thalia took a deep breath - it was all up to her now. She summoned lightning from the sky, which charged her spear. For a short second she felt the power from her father pass through her body. The wind blew her hair and for the first time, since she was back, she felt _fully_ like herself. She attacked.

The monster reached out to hit her, but she jumped out of the way, and before the thing had realised what was happening, she threw her spear at him. It connected with the cyclops’s chest and Thalia saw the electric waves take over it. Yet it didn’t seem like it was fully defeated. She used Aegis to hit the cyclops just below its chin and knock it on the ground. The electric shock stopped, but the cyclops was merely unconscious. How strong must he be not to be destroyed by her lighting? It usually took everything on its way, clean out!

Fortunately, just then Percy had gotten to his senses, Riptide in his hand and he stuck in the cyclops chest, before the monster had the time to stand up. That turned it to dust.

When she looked at him Thalia saw that Percy’s eyes were gleaming with some kind ofraw enjoyment. She couldn’t help but chuckle.

“That was kind of _fun_ , actually!” She wiped off sweat from her forehead. The volleyball game had barely tired her at all - these few minutes were the _real_ work out!

“Yeah, that too, but it was mostly _hot_!” Percy argued, turning Riptide back into a pen and putting it in his pocket. His hair was messed up, his t-shirt clawed at and covered in dust and scratches. Thalia had never found him more attractive.

Before she knew it, he was right in front of her, hand in her hair, kissing her passionately. “You were awesome!” he said after ten seconds of that. “It was like you radiated power, it was so _cool_!”

“Thanks, you were pretty badass yourself. Well, except for that gods-awful insult,” she grinned at him.

“It was the first thing that came into my head,” he chuckled, poking her shoulder playfully.

“Yeah, well it _sucked_! Let me see your arm, it looks pretty bad.”

“Oh, it’s just a scratch, I’m fine,” he shrugged away.

“So my _barely_ burnt hand is a huge deal, but your _gaping, bleeding_ wound is a _scratch_?! You are still high on adrenaline, just let me see!”

“It’s _barely_ bleeding!’ He replied, looking at his arm. 

It was very much still bleeding Thalia tore a piece of fabric from his already ruined t-shirt and tied it firmly just above the wound. 

“We should go to the infirmary - I only have basic knowledge about injuries.”

“It’s _just_ a _scratch_ , Thalia, I swear! I’ll drink some ambrosia and I’ll be fine. Or… take a shower. But you are right that we should get back to camp - we were here for quite a while.”

They heard more screams and shrieks coming from the camp. Both of them drew their weapons and ran, fast. In a few minutes they were by the gates. It took them a while but they realised why all the mayhem was happening.

“Well, I guess, you got you got your wish,” Thalia stopped cold, turning her spear back into collapsable mace canister and her shield back to a bracelet. “We should probably go say. ‘hi’.”

She turned back to Percy, whose sword was also back into a pen. He just kept starring ahead, looking dumbfounded at the gates, where a small, but loud welcoming committee had formed. Annabeth had just come back.

_(*Can anyone guess this reference :D)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on [Tumblr](http://bisexual-dragon-queen.tumblr.com). I don't post much PJO content, but I plan to.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm not dead!

Percy still hadn't quite realised what was happening as he followed Thalia back to the camp gate, where a bunch of people had gathered around Annabeth.

She saw them and pushed her way through her welcoming committee.

_“Percy!”_ She called out, before giving him a quick hug. He returned the gesture feebly, without saying anything

“Hi, Annabeth, glad to see you,” Thalia, whose face was unreadable, said evenly when Annabeth hugged her.

“What happened to you two?” Annabeth asked, looking at them with raised eyebrows. They were dirty and sweaty and Percy’s arm was bleeding.

“Oh, you know - fought a monster in the woods, no big deal,” Percy shrugged.

“What were you doing in the woods in the first place?” she frowned.

Thalia glanced briefly at Percy and shook her head. Thankfully, Annabeth was distracted just then by one of her half-brothers, and Thalia slipped away in the mayhem.

Percy stayed. He made small talk with Annabeth for a bit and then left, saying he should clean up and left her to catch-up with her siblings. He knew he was making excuses, but he didn't really want to talk to anyone, especially not Annabeth.

After a short, cold shower, Percy decided to change his program for the day and went to practice his sword-fighting skills. He enjoyed sword-fighting, but more importantly, it kept his brain busy. 

At dinner, he saw Annabeth and Thalia talking, while waiting in line for the sacrifice to the gods. Thalia looked a bit gloomy, but Annabeth was smiling, so he felt relieved. Thankfully, they were far ahead of him in the line and he didn't need to talk to either one. He couldn’t avoid them forever, but for now at least, he could try.

When he sat down, Percy looked at Athena’s table first. There was an animated discussion there and Annabeth was an eager participant. Then he glanced at Zeus's table, where Thalia looked her usual grim self. She refused to look in his direction and dug lazily through her food. Damn it, they _did_ need to talk.

***

After dinner Percy went to the archery range, where he knew he'd find Thalia. She often went there under the pretence of extra training sessions. He didn't like going there after dinner - even though it was still light, there were never more than a few people at the range during that time of the day and they didn’t really go because they needed the extra practice. It seemed kind of desolated - preforming a comfort ritual, in an attempt to put away your woes. Which was probably why Thalia went, of course.

Percy grabbed, one of the spare bows and arrows and headed straight to the empty spot, next to Thalia.

He nocked the arrow and drew back, just as she did the same.

“So you _are_ following me!” she said without lowering her bow, looking at him or moving in the slightest. She let go of the string and her the arrow hit the bullseye right next to two others.

“A little bit,” Percy said, pulling his own string. “I didn't tell _her_ anything, you know.” He let go. His arrow hit somewhere in the middle between the bullseye and the edge of the target.

“Figured as much,” Thalia replied evenly, still without looking at him. She nocked another arrow. “I’m pretty sure she would've mentioned it, if you had.”

“So you didn't tell her, either?” Percy turned to her, lowering his bow.

“ _Obviously_ ,” another perfect shot followed.

“We’re good then. I mean, we shouldn't say anything, right?”

“I don't see the point of upsetting her. It'll just put a strain on our friendship. Will that be all?” she asked picking up another arrow.

“Why? Am I _bothering_ you?” Percy was irritated. She just sounded so… _distant_.

“No, not bothering me at all. I just want to focus, when I practice.”

“I thought you liked my company - at least you seemed to, a few hours ago. What do you need to practise for, anyway? You are already perfect!” Percy glanced desperately towards his target, each one of his arrows in a different spot, all far from the bullseye, unlike Thalia's perfect streak.

“Thanks. Still. It's quiet time, now,” she said evenly and turned way;.

“Oh, what's your _problem_?!” He turned to her, exhausted.

“I don't have a problem with _you_ , Percy,” Thalia sighed.

“Then why are you being so cold? Because I remember that we were having fun and then Annabeth showed up and - _oh_!” Percy stopped. “You’re jealous,” he smirked.

“Gods, you think highly of yourself!” Thalia rolled her eyes. 

“Fine,” he said. “Then of you don’t care about me and you don’t care about Annabeth, what the hell is the problem?”

“Look, we… kissed. Twice. And I don’t know how that happened, and why, but I’m not jealous, because you’re gonna go back together with Annabeth or… whatever. You can do whatever you want. But you know what does hurt? The fact that we’ve around each other for months now and we’re supposed to be friends. Or at the very least, allies. I was right there, Percy! _Right there!_ And all you could think about was _Annabeth_.”

“Wait - I'm - _what_?”

“When we fought the cyclops. You wanted Annabeth there. She would've known what to do, right?”

“I… I didn't mean anything by it. It was just a random thought.”

“I know. That's the point.”

“I don't get it. Either I’m missing something or…”

“When it matters - your reflex is to think about Annabeth,” Thalia sighed.

“Well, I can't help it. I've known her longer. She was my first demigod friend. Well, except f… she was my _first_ demigod friend.” Percy saved himself quickly, he was going to mention someone he shouldn’t. “We went on two quests together.”

“Yeah, I know, and I’m not blaming you for it. I just… I wonder if that's all.”

“What does _that_ mean?”

“Oh, do I have to _spell it out_ for you, Percy?” She picked up her remaining arrows and stormed off.

“Well, now that's _all_ cleared up, then!” Percy told himself and shot again. Not even close to the bullseye.

***

It was around lunch next day, when Annabeth found Percy and dragged him a few feet away from the tables.

“Grover sent me a distress signal.”

“Really?” Percy was surprised. He hadn't received a distress signal, and after last year, he was pretty sure Grover would turn to him first. They did have that empathic connection, after all.

“Yes, really. We should go!”

“Go where?”

“Westover Hall.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now! He is in trouble. Go pack a bag!”

“But is it like…an emergency? What about lunch?” Percy knew he sounded stupid, but his stomach didn't seem care. Not to mention he was still riled from yesterday and his squabble with Thalia.

“I’ll grab you some sandwiches,” Annabeth sounded exasperated. “Come on, Thalia is getting ready.”

“ _What - w_ hat about Thalia now?”

“I thought the three of us should go together,”Annabeth said, slightly raising an eyebrow. “I mean you two are my best friends, not to mention the two most powerful and experienced demigods I know. If I'd want anyone watching my back, I'd want you two. Is there a problem?”

“No, no, it's fine… Okay, alright. I’m going,” he turned around.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Annabeth called after him. “I need you to call your mom.”

“W-why, why would that be?” Percy turned back towards her.

“Well, _someone_ needs to drive us!”

“ _Awesome_! I’m eighteen and my mom needs to drive me and my friends to our battles.”

“Oh, come on, Percy, your mom is great! And the fastest way to get there… well, except for that cab but I’m not getting on that thing again, if I can help it. Go!”

“Alright, I’m going,” Percy sighed and headed off.

***

Twenty minutes later the three demigods were waiting in front of the camp gates, where Percy's mom's car had stopped. Sally Jackson hugged her son, then Annabeth and even Thalia, though she hadn't even met her before. Thalia even smiled at Sally and was allowed to sit in the front as the oldest.

The three demigods were too nervous to talk, but that didn't apply to Sally. She talked even more when she was nervous - started off with stories about Percy's childhood that embarrassed him, but caused Annabeth to laugh nervously and Thalia to smirk.

“So, Annabeth, how is school?” Sally asked. “Different, better, worse?”

“Oh, different, certainly. It takes a little getting used to, but I like it. I mean it's not as nearly as exciting as camp, and I need to be a lot more careful, but it's _nice_. Thalia and Percy have to be the ones with all the interesting stories.”

“No,” Thalia shrugged immediately. “No stories. _None at all._ Just normal camp stuff.”

“Oh, come on! Camp isn’t exactly boring on a normal day, but you fought a monster just yesterday,” Annabeth reminded them.

“ _Monster_?” Sally asked. “What monster? I thought the camp was supposed to be safe.”

“Well, it is, technically,” Annabeth explained. “It's just sometimes in the woods…”

“Oh, I've been meaning to ask you,” Percy interrupted her, lowering his voice. “The monster we fought was a cyclops. Isn't that a little weird?”

“ _Cyclops_? Yeah, it is a little strange, now that I think about it. There isn’s supposed to be anything that dangerous in the woods. Hey, look, here we are!”

Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside.

“Oh, yeah. This'll be fun.”

Sally checked, if they had everything they needed and asked if they needed a ride back. Finally, Annabeth assured her that they'd be ok. Percy's mom still wouldn't let go so he finally scolded her, annoyed. She seemed hurt and Percy felt guilty immediately, but he really wanted to get out of the car. The baby stories were bad enough, but the conversation was actually worse. Annabeth was curious about their time at camp and Thalia had not seemed warmer towards him, since the night before. He couldn't take a minute more.

“Your mom's really cool, Jackson. You should appreciate her more,” Thalia punched him lightly on the shoulder.

“She's pretty okay,” he admitted. “What about yours? You ever get in touch with her?” As soon as he had said that, he wished he hadn't. Thalia was great at giving evil looks, but the one she gave him then was a perfect evil “ _ten_.”

“If that was any of your business, Percy…”

“We'd better get inside,” Annabeth interrupted. “Grover will be waiting.”

Thalia used something she later explained to Percy to be The Mist (and made him feel awful that Chiron wasn't teaching it to him yet) to get them through some teachers. Then Grover met them and led them to what seemed to be a school dance. He pointed out the two demigods they needed to take back to camp.

Unfortunately, the vice principal seemed to suspect that something was off with them and Thalia (who had suddenly become the leader in their little mission), ordered Percy and Annabeth to act natural and maybe “dance a little.”

Thalia forced Grover to dance with her, complaining loudly about the insipid pop music. Percy watched her walk away for a couple of seconds then turned to Annabeth:

“So, I guess we should dance too, then?” He asked.

“I guess so,” she shrugged and clasped one of his hands, putting the other on his shoulder, while Percy placed his on her hip.

Percy let Annabeth lead as he was uncomfortable about it - truth was, he had never actually been to a school dance before. He asked her about architecture and she went on to talk about how awesome her school was and all the things she had the opportunity to be doing there. Percy loved listening to her talk, even though he barely understood any of what she was saying. He wasn't too sure how he felt about Annabeth enjoying her new school so much. 

Only a short while ago he'd be glad for her, but still be very disappointed that she was having such a great time at this new place, but now… Percy glanced towards Thalia and Grover and gulped.

“So how's camp, _really_?” Annabeth finally asked, when she was done telling him about her school.

“Oh, it's great! It's wonderful.”

“Am I missing a lot of fun?”

“No, not really.”

“I thought it was ‘ _wonderful_ ’?”

“Well, _yeah_ , but in a normal camp-sort-of way. Your new school sounds amazing.”

“It’a pretty amazing. But I do miss some things. Training, playing Capture the Flag, my siblings, my other friends, _including you_ ,” Annabeth looked down. “Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“ _Miss me_ , Seaweed brain! Do you _miss me_?”

“I… yeah, absolutely! _Of course_ , I do.” Percy smiled and felt that this wasn't a lie - he didn't miss her as much the previous two days, but he certainly missed her a lot, in general. If nothing else she _was_ his best friend.

“See, it's not that hard!” They heard Thalia's voice from twenty feet from them. She was leading, teaching Grover how to dance, but he kept stepping on her feet.

“Yeah, I see it now. It is quite fun, actually!” Grover said and just then stepped on Thalia again.

“Oh, _son of a bitch_!” Thalia cursed and pulled back, hopping on one foot. “Fine, I give up! Maybe you _can't_ dance, after all!”

“Hey, do you want to switch?” Annabeth asked Thalia with a smile.

Thalia looked at her. “Are you sure? He is _really_ bad.”

“It's fine,”Annabeth chuckled glancing at the vice principal, who was starring in their direction and frowning. “We still need to pretend we are normal and throw him off, right? Percy is kind of awkward, but he won't step on you,” she laughed.

Percy just shrugged - she was right. He was usually one of the people playing basketball in the corner during a dance.

“Well, if you are sure…” Thalia said to Annabeth, but she threw a nervous look at Percy.

“Yes, of course,” Annabeth smiled and went over to dance with Grover.

“So,” Percy said nervously, as Thalia got near him.

“So,” she answered.

“Well, should I…?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Percy carefully placed one of his hands on her waist and held her other hand in his. Her hand was on his shoulder and for a moment he couldn't help but think about the day before, pressing her against that tree, her nails sinking in his skin…

“Are you still mad at me?” Percy asked, trying to refocus his attention, but kept picturing her hands sliding down his body…

“No,” Thalia shook her head. “No, I was never _really_ mad at you. I, uh… I have a lot going on. We’re fine though, we’re friends.”

“Friends with benefits?” Percy frowned. 

“Okay, yeah, we made out, but… we were both stressed. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“What if we hadn't been interrupted…?”

“I don't know. But I know that I don't want any complications. I like being _just_ friends.”

“Okay. But we both agree that we shouldn’t tell Annabeth, right?”

“Well, there is really nothing to tell.”

“Okay, but still…”

“I won't tell her anything,” Thalia assured him. “But I do want to know one thing. Do you _love_ her?”

“Sure, as a friend, of course I do.”

“Come on, you _know_ what I mean!”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. And honestly… I don't know.”

“Well, do you at least _like_ her?”

“I don't know.”

“Do you like _me_?”

“As a friend.”

_“Percy!”_

“I _don't know!_ Maybe! I… do _you_ like me?”

“I don't know.”

“Great! We’re definitely making progress,” he laughed bitterly.

“We’re a mess,” Thalia chuckled.

“That I can agree on.”

A slow song started. Percy was almost ready to give up dancing then, but Thalia moved her other hand on his shoulder, still leading and he placed his free hand on the other side of her waist, pulling her closer, so their bodies were almost touching. She smelled wonderfully, the way it smells after rain. 

Thalia placed her hands on his neck and without realising it, Percy’s hand slid to the small of her back.

“That's nice,” she said, almost closing her eyes for a second and Percy felt her minty breath on his face.

“Yeah, totally _friendly!_ ”

“It's just a facade, remember? We are still trying to seem normal,”

“Well, then for the sake of _pretending_ ,” Percy's right hand slid down to her ass. Thalia grabbed it and moved it back up to her waist.

She chuckled and said, “Yeah, like _that's_ happening! And if you want to keep your hand, I suggest you don't try to move it again.”

“Oh, come on," Percy laughed. “It's no big deal - all high school students feel up each other at dances,” he joked.

“Percy, we’re on a quest, not a dance, so let’s not get carried away.”

“Oh, c’mon, I was kidding. Wait, do you really think I’m _that_ irresponsible?”

“No, but I do think you’re _that_ eighteen. I’d prefer it, if had your blood flowing towards your brain, right now. Plus, Annabeth's here and we just decided to keep anything more than friendship between ourselves.”

“Annabeth is no where close,” Percy looked around again, but he couldn't see Annabeth or Grover anywhere. “Where _is_ Annabeth, anyway?”

“Percy,” Thalia said. “I don't think that's our biggest problem, right now.” 

He was confused for half a second, but then he saw what Thalia was looking at - the bench where the two di Angelo kids sat just a minute ago, was now empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out on [Tumblr](http://bisexual-dragon-queen.tumblr.com). I don't post much PJO content, but I plan to.

**Author's Note:**

> Check me out on [Tumblr](https://bisexual-dragon-queen.tumblr.com/). I don't post much PJO content, but I plan to.


End file.
